Saturday, 11 January 2014

Amuse Bouche

I really should read the manual for the camera, as my current approach of pressing buttons until such point as I stumble across a picture that is vaguely in focus is perhaps not the best way to get a decent close up picture.

That said, the extra effort in painting the figures is rather satisfying. And they certainly are marvellous figures and well worth the time.

Anywho...

Away from the enjoyable side of the hobby, it seems the hysterical loons who inhabit the online 40K 'community' have gone out of their collective minds yet again.

The dual cause is the release of the new Tyranid codex combined with news that anything goes at Warhammer World events.

With regard to the Tyranids, I am reminded that this kind of lunacy accompanies every codex release. And, amusingly, the rage has been growing for a week or so based on rumours and the pronouncements of various 'community' websites and blogs. What no one seems to have noticed is that the record of these websites is rather poor when making judgements about the 'tier'/'power level' of new codexs.

The perfect example is the Screamer Star. Did any of these sites spot this build? No. Instead they blathered on about random charts, and how said random charts would make it impossible to be a 'competative' army because 'competative' armies have to be predictable.

A few months pass, and off go Team America (and it is fair to point to this team, as these 'community websites and the brainless types who repeat this nonsense tend to be American) to the ETC promising to teach the world how 40K is meant to be played. And then a week later they return with various lame excuses, having put up their usual lamentable performance (I'm sure they did very well, but one can't resist a dig given the humourless boasting that accompanies this team). How could the national representatives of the nation that pwns 40K, and without whom there would be no game, not see this built?

Probably because the Spanish guy how found it doesn't spend his time whittering about nonsense in the 'community', and instead bothers to play the game and make his own decisions.

The ranting about the announcement by Warhammer World is even more idiotic.

Apparently because GW has decided that they will no longer restrict Forgeworld - and some other things - from their tournaments, this means that it is "OFFICIAL". And as we all know that if it is "OFFICIAL" that means that it is manditory - that is except when it comes to the rule about dicing for disagreements and respecting your opponent, in which case the "OFFICIAL" rule is to be ignored, until there is an "OFFICIAL" FAQ - at which point the "OFFICIAL" rule about respecting your opponent can be "officially" ignored.

Anywho...

Apparently within the 'community' there is a rule that says you have to play with anyone who asks you for a game, and you have to go to every tournament.

Therefore there is the possibility that you might ask someone for a game and they will pull out a Titan, and you cannot refuse to play them.

Oh and because of this possibility, you will be forced to spend an inordinate amount of money on books and pdfs, in order that if you are ambushed in this way, you will be at least cognoscente of what may or may not be allowed.

I suppose given the toxic atomosphere of the 'community' and the linga franca from the porn industry that passes for jargon, it is hardly surprising that people can't just use the word 'no' - since they are no doubt already 'lubed up' and ready for the 'anal raping'... of course they will be 'fluffed' prior to the visit to the - inaptly named - FLGS.

What sparked my curiousity about the GW announcement - beside the change to the 70% rule and that now all conversions must use GW parts - was that experimental rules will now be allowed. This combined with the announcement that White Dwarf is to change to something called Warhammer Visions (if they payed for this title they really need to ask for their money back).

I suspect this will lead to more rage within the 'community', as it may well be a case of' be carful what you wish fo'r. As one of the common memes when discussing White Dwarf is the nostalgic wish for it to return to the good old days, in which editions came with experimental rules, and army lists - you know things that move the game along and keep people interested. And more shockingly still there is the suggestion floating around that readers will be able to submit content - just like in the halcyon days of yore.

Of course this is supposition on my part, that the new magazine will contain such experimental rules, but it would be good if it did. Personally, the reason I stopped buying it was the new format, with it's 1990's layout, it just made it obvious that those writing it either didn't have much to say or were too frightened to say it if they did, and instead were using the blank arty spacing as musak.

Of course if the new magazine does go down this path the 'community' may just burst it's collective brain cell at the thought of having to obsessively download additional pdfs in order to stay in the 'community' loop.

I do hope so...

Anywho...

For those who have hobbies for fun and pleasure, and perhaps are in the mood for something different, get yourself a pack or two of Pendraken minis and enter the painting competition. The posting of entries starts at the beginning of February, and the closing date for entries is 28th February.